Tag: Veronica Roth

I was a huge fan of the Divergent movie so when Insurgent came out, I couldn’t get to the movie theater fast enough for more Tris and Four action. The DVD and Blu-Ray is out today and we’ve got some Insurgent goodness to share with you lovely readers!

Check out some behind-the-scenes with the cast and the Divergent series author, Veronica Roth.

I know that it’s got to be extremely hard to bring a book with so much going on in it, to life but it was neat to hear the cast and production staff’s thoughts on that whole ordeal.

Watching this clip got me thinking about what books to movies that I rather enjoyed and the one that keeps coming to mind is Love, Rosie by Cecelia Ahern.

The very first time that I read that book, I adored it and even though it took FOREVER for Alex and Rosie to get their crap together before committing to one another, I enjoyed the story. Now the second time I read the book, the amount of time and missed opportunities that Alex and Rosie went through bothered me a lot. Like so much that I ranted about it in a post on this blog. So when I heard the movie was coming out, I was a little apprehensive about it but then I saw it.

I loved the movie. I thought the way that they handled the whole romance from beginning to end was fan-freaking-tastic. It immediately became one of my favorite movie adaptations.

I really enjoyed the Divergent and Insurgent movies. I’m not going to lie, I like them better than the books. I really enjoyed the books but the movies? I liked them more. It’s going to be interesting to see where Allegiant starts because I don’t remember a lot of what happened in Insurgent (the movie) happening in the book. But I liked the changes they made. I thought they made more sense for the movie and would bring in new fans for the series (who hadn’t read the books beforehand).

Set in a futuristic dystopia where society is divided into five factions that each represent a different virtue, teenagers have to decide if they want to stay in their faction or switch to another – for the rest of their lives. Tris Prior makes a choice that surprises everyone. Then Tris and her fellow faction-members have to live through a highly competitive initiation process to live out the choice they have made. They must undergo extreme physical and intense psychological tests, that transform them all. But Tris has a secret that she is Divergent, which means she doesn’t fit into any one group. If anyone knew, it would mean a certain death. As she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly peaceful society, this secret might help her save the people she loves… or it might destroy her. Written by anonymous

I was super excited to watch this movie because I finished my read of the book a couple of days before seeing the movie so everything was fresh in my mind.

Did the movie follow everything from the book, exactly? Nope. Did I care? Hell no.

I loved the movie. I thought the changes from the book made sense for the movie. I also thought that the casting for this movie was heaps better than both Hunger Games and Twilight. I’m not going to lie, a whole lot of why I liked the movie had to do with this one:

I enjoyed seeing everyone come to life through the movie and though some of my favorite scenes from the book didn’t make it to the movie, it was still a very enjoyable movie. There’s action, there’s an actual story line and guys?!! There’s no love triangle. Woot for that!

So this movie is about Tris’ journey through the Dauntless initiation process. The movie takes place in Dystopian Chicago society. There was a huge war that caused the higher ups to build a wall around Chicago and they divided the society up into five different factions. Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless and Erudite. Abnegation peeps are selfless, they live to serve others. They’re trusted to run the government. The Amity faction is all about peace. They’re the hippies who do the farming and what not. Candor faction tell the truth. Erudite’s are smart. They’re the brainiacs, the ones who thirst for knowledge. So they’re the teachers, inventors and what not. Dauntless are the protectors. They’re the cops, the military and all of that other stuff. Tris was born into the Abnegation faction and her test results were inconclusive but on her choosing day (when you’re 16, you get tested to show which faction you should choose and then on choosing day, you can either choose the faction you already belong to and tested for or you can make an entirely different choice. It’s up to you), she opts out of Abnegation and goes to Dauntless.

While initiating for Dauntless, you can see the change come over Tris. She goes from selfless weakling to total bad ass. A lot of that had to do with her training from Four. Holy crap was Four amazing. So freaking hawt! I thought both Shailene and Theo portrayed their characters extremely well. Four is exactly how I pictured him, in both looks and character. I pictured Tris as smaller, more frail but Shailene portrayed her character well.

Divergents can’t be controlled. They’re the only ones that go under simulations and know that they’re in a simulation. Normal people go under simulations and everything is real to them. Their fears control them and it takes them a long time to get out from under a simulations. This works in favor of the bad guys who are trying to build an army to overthrow a whole faction. Divergents are a threat to them so the bad guys are hunting Divergents and killing them.

There’s a whole lot more to the movie so you’ll have to watch it to see what I mean. If you liked the book, I’m thinking you’ll like the movie. Even Holly enjoyed it and she’s hard to please so go watch this movie!

Grade: 4.5 out of 5

This movie is available from Summit and Red Wagon Entertainment. I purchased this DVD and my ticket to movie.

In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue–Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is–she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are–and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she’s kept hidden from everyone because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, Tris also learns that her secret might help her save the ones she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

I’ve been meaning to read this book for quite some time now but never got around to actually doing it. But with the movie’s release, I figured I had better get my ass in gear and right in the nick of time, I finished it.

I really liked it.

The beginning of the story was just a tad bit slow for me but in no time at all, I was knocked on my ass and the story really picked up. I thought Veronica Roth did a fabulous job of making her dystopian Chicago world come to life through this book. The descriptions were sharp and colorful and the dialogue was fantastic.

So this story starts with the introduction of the factions. There are five factions. Amity, Abnegation, Candor, Erudite and Dauntless. The Amity faction is the peaceful faction that does a lot of the farming and takes care of the food for everyone. The Abnegation faction is where all of the selfless people are. They’re so selfless that people trust them to run their government so that’s where the government faction is. The Erudite faction is where the knowledge seeking people live. They’re the brainiacs who invent and know all. Then there’s Dauntless. They’re the warriors who protect everyone. They train and they’re crazy but they’re also very protective.

Beatrice Prior is our main character and she grew up in Abnegation. Her parents and brothers are selfless. They’re always willing to help others out and it’s natural for them to do so. Not so much with Beatrice. She doesn’t feel like she belongs in Abnegation because it’s not second nature for her to give of herself, to give up her spot in line so that the older people can get through first. Those things just don’t come to Beatrice’s mind so when it’s time for her to choose her future faction, she shocks everyone with her choice.

The entire story takes place as Beatrice, now known as Tris, learns and trains with the other initiates. Over the course of the book, you see the change that comes over Tris. She’s no longer Beatrice the Stiff. She’s Tris, the badass. And as she’s learning the ropes, things are popping up, putting her in danger. As she goes about her business, Tris learns who she can trust and who she can’t.

When Four is introduced, I about fainted with glee. I’ve heard nothing but good things about him and I knew that I was going to love him but I wasn’t prepared for how much I was going to love him. He’s so mysterious and the mystery is interesting. I wanted to know everything about him in the book and seeing him grow close to Tris made the story even more interesting.

I ended up really liking the book. I liked it so much that I went to see the moving early and I even loved the movie. Roth created a world that I came to really like and I cannot wait to keep the party going with the next book.

I definitely recommend this book.

Grade: 4.5 out of 5

This book is available from Katherine Tegen Books. You can purchase it here or here in e-format.

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